Just another ST fic

Yet another ST fic. Yeah.

(alternate titles: "Sequel to: ''Just another ST fic. Yeah."' or 'The Return of Kouran's Time Machine.' or 'A New Enemy from the Past.')

~All Sakura Taisen characters belong to Red, Sega and Bandai. Anybody I've left out?

Author's note: You should read 'Just another ST fic. Yeah.' before you read this because this is the sequel. Or rather the 2nd part of the '-another ST fic. Yeah.' series. (I guess there's the last one coming up...)

PROLOGUE - The New Enemy and The New Ally

"Ne...Tokirou-chan, you want to make a comeback, do you?" Kanna said quietly to the inanimate object. She was the only one in the engineering room. Kouran was called away just seconds ago to meet Kaede regarding the Koubu-kai. Then Kanna wondered to herself, Am I actually talking to a time machine? Kouran had called her to the engineering room because she wanted to increase her attack points by a few notches on the Koubu-kai.

"Kanna? What are you doing here?" Maria asked. The larger woman muttered something about the time machine, then Maria got puzzled. "Huh?" It was then Kanna realised Maria's existence in the engineering room.

"Oh. Hi!" Kanna replied cheerfully. "What were you asking me?"

"I just wanted to know what you are doing here."

"Kouran called me here. Why?"

"Nothing...Just wanted to come in and check who is here."

"You looked troubled."

"Kanna...Iris felt something, Sakura too. Then it was my turn. Premonition of something bad, I guess."

"Uh-oh. Anyone else felt like that?"

The answer was apparently 'yes' when the battle alarm sounded.

* * *

"Listen up, you people. There has been an attack, by an unknown force, but all I can say that it's very powerful. It's killing people and trampling houses, so do what you can, and quickly. No other information can be sourced on this new enemy, we only know that there is no more than one. But it is very difficult to overcome." Kaede was very brief in describing the attack. Then the Hanagumi moved out.

The battle was hard. The monster was huge. And in the whole city, the only person who knew what it was was a young girl, the last of her clan, named Tsukigawa Hanae. Not to mention she was a part of the military...

* * *

"That was bad. Really bad," Sakura sighed after the battle. "A monster appearing in broad daylight...One of the rare cases, I presume," Maria said, thoughtfully. "Maria-san, Kaede-san, somebody by the name of Tsukigawa Hanae wants to see both of you," Kasumi rushed into the meeting room. The two nodded and went out of the room to change out of their uniform.

* * *

"Tsukigawa-san?" Kaede assumed as she met the girl. The girl spun around. "Just call me Hanae," the girl replied. "Hanae, why did you want to see us?" Maria asked. "I'm from the Shingumi, more about that the next time, and I have been informed that your headquarters are here. This is extremely important. Please listen carefully. The enemy that appeared today is from the past. I know why it is here-" "Why?" Kaede and Maria asked in unison. "Let me explain."

"Back in the 1700s, the Tsukigawa family was the one of the families in Japan capable of repelling evil. We first appeared in Hokkaido, from the Ainu people. But unlike the well-known Shinguuji family or Kanzaki family, we kept our ability under wraps for fear that people would get us to help them to rid the country of evil. Because of this selfishness, we knew we would be punished.

"Then the day came. Terrible monsters appeared from the mountains of Hokkaido, the same one that appeared today. They reproduced at a very fast rate, and they could mature in a few weeks. Here is the information on this demon that I got from my family archives."

Maria and Kaede took in all this with interest. They accepted the information on the monster from Hanae. Then Hanae bowed and was about to leave when Maria asked her, "What is the Shingumi?" Hanae gave a mysterious smile. "You would know very soon, Maria-san. Farewell, and may we meet again!"

"That's strange. I didn't hear you telling her your name." "What exactly IS the Shingumi?" "Hm...If even I do not know, then they must be one of the top-secret groups..."

-TSUTZUKU-